Sarah and Todd Norwood traded in the urban hustle-and-bustle for a Mayberry-like existence—and a chance to put their fashionable stamp on an 1840s house in Athens, New York.

A Life More Ordinary

A Life More Ordinary

Four years ago, Sarah Norwood lived every urban hipster's fantasy, with an industrial loft in Brooklyn and a career as a fashion stylist. At night, however, she cruised websites devoted to rural real estate, poring over pictures of properties upstate. After she and her photographer husband, Todd, had their son, Archer (now 3), Sarah knew it was time to quit looking at country retreats and finally take the leap.

The place the Norwoods bought—in the tiny, no-stoplight town of Athens, New York—consisted of a restored 1840s main house, plus a completely dilapidated carriage house.

In this photo: Midcentury Paul McCobb chairs pair with a late-1800s worktable in the breakfast room. One of Sarah's own monotypes hangs at far left. The wall is painted Atrium White by Benjamin Moore.

Kitchen

Kitchen

Intended as a weekend escape, the home quickly consumed her. Sarah experimented with color, ultimately painting the entire kitchen a high-gloss peacock blue. She mixed disparate styles—Art Deco and industrial, rustic and Regency—yielding pairings that shouldn't make sense on paper, but wow in real life. "I don't like things to look too decorated," Sarah says. Her method for composing interiors with a confident air of authenticity: "Buy stuff you love, regardless of era or price, and your home will be a true reflection of you."